BEIJING- Copper prices fell on Thursday, dragged down by a stronger US dollar after hawkish minutes of the Federal Reserve’s meeting and weakening demand in top consumer China.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 0.9 percent to $10,325 per metric ton while the most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) fell 4 percent to 83,230 yuan ($11,492.05) a ton.
The dollar hovered near a one-week high on Thursday following its best day this month against major peers after minutes of the last Fed meeting revealed a willingness to raise interest rates among some officials.
A stronger dollar makes it more expensive to buy the greenback-priced commodity.
Also weighing on metals was the waning demand in China, as large price rises this year hit copper-user consumption and pushed inventories higher.
Other base metals trended lower. LME aluminum slid 0.2 percent to $2,631 a ton, nickel dropped 1.1 percent to $20,145, zinc shed 0.6 percent to $3,043, tin was little moved at $33,500, and lead was 0.6 percent lower to $2,301.
SHFE aluminum lost 2.2 percent to 20,910 yuan a ton, zinc dropped 2 percent to 24,395 yuan, tin moved 2.2 percent to 272,790 yuan, lead slid 0.6 percent to 18,440 yuan, and nickel was down 3.6 percent to 152,080 yuan.
